Neria
by darkmoonvampire
Summary: Elizabeth's body is taken over by an Ancient consciousness named Neria who has designed a weapon that will purge the Wraith from the galaxy once and for all. However when the team find out just what exactly Neria has planned they may have to sacrifice one of their own. John x Elizabeth.
1. Discovery

Chapter 1: Discovery

Sheppard's team had been on the usual mission of discovering what was out there. When they flew through the space gate they had no idea that they would find such a remarkable relic. It was just located on the other side of the moon from the planet the Gate was orbiting. Rodney had been in love at first sight at the prospect of uncovering its primary function and hopefully studying it in great detail.

The place had obviously been abandoned by thousands of years. Which made sense considering it was an Ancient outpost. It was just smaller than the Aurora class vessels they had come across, but its design was more of a station than a star ship. Very similar in design to the satellite that had been used and lost in the siege during the end of the expeditions first year in the Pegasus galaxy.

They had been able to dock with little issues and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had back up power that was just enough to bring back life support and turn on the lights. They navigated the shallow corridors and eventually made it to the main control room. The four of them had a quick look around but without more power they couldn't access any more of the station's functionality.

Sheppard agreed with Rodney that they should head back to Atlantis and convince Elizabeth to allow them to bring back a Naquada generator and hopefully find out what the station was capable of. Everything went according to plan and John was thoroughly thrilled with the look on her face when they informed her of their discovery.

Which led him to asking her."Hey want to get out of here for a bit and come take a look with us?" His grin was in place as he sat on the edge of her desk. He knew damn well she was just as eager and curious about this new station as the rest of them. It had been too long since Elizabeth had been off-world from Atlantis and the solar system they found the station in was uninhabited so there little chance of hostile forces turning up.

"Alright I'm in." She replied with a smile on her face and shut her laptop down. She inwardly agreed that she needed to get out a little more from her office and being in an Ancient complex was the perfect getaway.

So Sheppard's team along with Elizabeth and Zalenka and the Naquada generator returned to the Ancient space station outpost and managed to restore more power to the systems.

They were all standing in the main control room with most of the power back they could finally access the main computer. Rodney and Zalenka were at opposite ends of the central console and data screen leaving the rest of them to look around.

Elizabeth was taking in the sights of the other consoles that decorated the other two walls of the control room. That's when she noticed a piece that looked out of place then the rest of the Ancient technology that they had previously come across in their travels. It was a single button but its colouring wasn't the usual light blue of the others on the console. It looked like it had been burned with heat or perhaps even weapons fire.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her she lightly brushed her fingers over the burned button. That's when an energy surge shot up through her hand and engulfed her entire body before she knew what was happening. She let out f groan of pain as the thick blackness of unconsciousness took a hold of her and she slumped to the floor in a heap of limbs.

"Elizabeth!" John cried out as he only just managed to reach her in time before her head hit the floor. He gently lowered the rest of the way and checked for a pulse and sighed with relief when he felt it beat rapidly beneath his fingertips.

"What happened?" Teyla asked as she and Ronan came over to assist Sheppard.

"Looks like a power discharge hit her. I'm disconnecting our generator until we know more." Rodney informed them as he powered down the station.

"We got to get her back to Atlantis immediately." John ordered as he went to lift Elizabeth up into his arms to carry her back to the Puddle Jumper.

"Let me." Ronan offered as he knelt down next to him and scooped Elizabeth up in his enormous arms before John could protest. "We need you to fly the ship, remember?"

"Right." He reluctantly agreed, he didn't know why he didn't like the idea of Ronan carrying her back to the Jumper. It just felt like something he should have done, after all he took Elizabeth's safety and well being very seriously.

Thankfully it didn't take them long to hustle it back to Atlantis and place Elizabeth in the infirmary under the care of Carson Beckett. Sheppard didn't like waiting while the doctor and his team did all their scans because even though it was probably minutes it always felt like days to him.

Carson finally ushered them over to the isolation room that they had decided to place Elizabeth in. John and the rest of them instantly recognised this as a bad sign.

"So how is she?" John asked as soon as they got close enough that he didn't have to yell across the room.

Carson sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, an obvious sign of his distress. "As far as we can tell she's fine physically speaking. The energy surge didn't harm her." He paused to allow his friends the time to process the information. "Unfortunately we picked up something rather alarming in her MRI. We're detecting two consciousnesses."

"Oh come on! Not again!" Rodney protested rather too loudly and Ronan smacked his arm lightly to shut him up for the time being.

"Surely not the same design that we found Thalin and Phoebus?" Teyla asked worried that they would a repeat of that specific day's events. Once was more than enough for her lifetime.

"Aye no it's not. Thankfully, however it does resemble that of an Ancient signature. I can't say for sure but it does have similarities to the ones we encountered when they briefly reclaimed the city." Carson explained and was about to go into further detail when one of the nurses came out of the isolation room looking rather uncomfortable.

"Doctor? She's awake."

They all bundled into the room to find that Elizabeth Weir was sitting up in the infirmary bed with all the wires attached to her. She was looking around the room rather confused at all the Earth equipment and then down at her clothes.

"Elizabeth?" John called out her having a horrible sense of déjà vu from over a year ago. They all stalked around her bed so she couldn't suddenly jump off and start running for it.

She snapped her eyes towards him them and even though they were the same eyes they appeared different somehow. The familiar warmth and kindness in them was gone and only empty confusion was left in their wake.

"I don't know this Elizabeth. My name is Neria. Now tell me what exactly are you doing in my home?"

A/N: Let me know what you think and if you want me to continue this story as well.


	2. Awaken Thy Demon

Chapter 2: Awaken Thy Demon

Neria didn't know how long she had slept for. But she knew it must have been a significant amount of time because she was no longer in her own body and the people surrounding her were primitives compared to her own race. She had already surmised that her own body must have long since decayed but for the city to be no longer occupied by the council? How long had she been in her forsaken slumber?

She could have stopped all of it, could have prevented all of this from happening. Why hadn't they just _listened_ to her? Sure she had been angry and grief stricken; who wouldn't be after what she had been through? What had happened to her husband? Had he been persecuted for what she had attempted to do? She had been _so close,_ to just wiping the Wraith out of existence. Ah the fools were dead now and she was finally free! She could finally accomplish what she had set out to do and purge the Wraith from the galaxy and bring peace to everyone that resided here.

But first she had to determine how much these people knew and if she could use them to reach her goal or simply get them out of her way.

"We live here now; the Ancestors left many thousands of years ago." A woman answered her, she was tanned skinned and well muscled. Obviously a citizen of this galaxy, a tribal at best and therefore not worthy of her time.

Neria turned to take in the rest of them, a tall man with dreadlocks stared at her menacingly and she guessed he wasn't that intelligent either so she gave him no second thought. The other three men however were different; one appeared to be a doctor or at least the primitive equivalent of one. He kept looking at her new body's vital signs and was probably trying to figure out how to get right of her. Well she wouldn't give him any information on that count for she had no intention of leaving until her work was finished.

One of the other two men was staring at her with pure excitement and wonder. She stared back at him and couldn't help the smile that graced her new face when he seemed to become uncomfortable. He was out of shape but she could see the intellect in his eyes, a true scientist indeed! Well maybe not all hope was lost from the next generation of her kind; still it worried her that there was only one out of such a small group.

The man standing closest to her, the one that had called her Elizabeth also appeared to be smarter than his companions though not quite as much as the out of shape one. He was tall with dark hair that seemed ridiculously unruly and she didn't know if he intended it that way or not. His hazel eyes had been warm but were now assessing her with a military scrutiny that she recognised well. But his face was painfully similar and she wondered how it was possible for someone thousands of years later to look so much like her husband.

It hurt to look at him any longer and she averted her eyes down to her hands. They were not the ones that she was used to but at least they were female. Oh she hated to think if she had ended up in the body of a man! Still she wondered what she looked like in this new body that would be hers from now on.

"Thousands of years..." She spoke quietly the words of the tribal woman reminding her that everything and everyone she held dear was gone. Though much was taken away even before her eternal slumber.

"Look we're sorry for whatever circumstances that led to you being in that station but is Elizabeth still in there?" The one that looked too much like her husband asked irritably. Perhaps he was the husband to the one she inhabited? His eyes were set firmly but she could see the undercurrent of emotion swelling within; it appeared that he did care deeply for the one called Elizabeth. Perhaps she could use it to her advantage if things ever became complicated.

She relaxed a little and tried to sense another presence in her mind, and fought back the smile when she detected that it wasn't stirring. Therefore Elizabeth was not aware of what was going on and that made Neria effectively the only resident of the body.

"She is here, but I am unable to release control over to her." Most of the truth if not the whole truth, the most effective way to lie is to spin the truth.

"Can't or won't?" The handsome pried and she admired that he had assessed her so well. If Neria didn't know better than she would have thought she was talking with her husband for he had been exactly the same.

"Both." Another honest answer and she knew she'd have to be extra careful around this one. She just had to figure out a way to get their attention focused on her work and finish it before they ever realised what she was really going to do.

"What were you doing in that machine anyway? More importantly what does it do?" The scientist asked her, obviously his curiosity getting the better of him.

She didn't hide her grin when the handsome one just glared at him silently telling him to be quiet. However it was just the opening she had been looking for and she gladly accepted it. "I was hiding so no one would discover my work." She paused as she tried to abbreviate the entire story, after all they didn't need all the details just enough to encourage them to assist her. "It's a weapon that should wipe out the entire Wraith in the galaxy simultaneously."

When their collective eyes widened with appreciation and excitement she knew she had them exactly where she wanted them. "I wish to continue my work with your help. We must finally put right the mistakes of my people." She did her best to look harmless and innocent and it worked for the most part.

There was just one problem and that was the handsome one. "What about Elizabeth?" He demanded rather aggressively and she felt sadness stir deep inside her at the thought of hurting him when he resembled her beloved Septhaim. But her husband and child were dead now and so was the rest of her kind and soon the Wraith would join them. She had set out to bring justice to the galaxy and restore balance to nature again. Neria wouldn't just simply allow one tragic love story get in her way, consequences be damned.

"I will freely remove myself from her after my work is completed."She didn't need to elaborate her words any more she could see by the way their faces tightened that they understood her perfectly. Elizabeth was her hostage and she wasn't letting her go no matter what.

A/N: So you all know the drill, let me know what you think and I'll do my best to update as soon as I can! Thanks everyone for the reviews so far and the kind messages regarding my family. It's much appreciated. :)


	3. Reason

Chapter 3: Reason

When Elizabeth opened her eyes, she expected a world of light and concerned faces to greet her. She thought she would be in discomfort and feel a numbing ache from where the energy surge had ravaged her body. Unfortunately neither of things happened when she finally regained consciousness.

When she opened her eyes; all that greeted her was darkness and they was no sensation of pain throughout her body. In fact she felt nothing at all, as if she was floating in a void and she had no anchor to the physical world. It was a strange feeling and one that she had the misfortune to experience once before. It was when Phoebus had entered and hijacked her body and used it to try and hunt down Thelan in John's body for own sick enjoyment.

With this realisation that there must be another uninvited guest inhabiting her brain; it took great effort for Elizabeth to visualise her arms pressing down onto what should be the floor. Slowly an empty grey room like the ones back at Stargate Command materialised around her and she found herself kneeling in the middle of it. There were no windows or doors and when she tried to create one with her mind; nothing happened.

Her conscious awakening and movements must have alerted whoever or whatever it was that she was still here because after a few moments a woman appeared out of nowhere dressed in Ancient white clothing. She was a beautiful woman, with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes, a slender woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. She carried an air of importance around her and her stance was rigid with her hands behind her back.

"Who are you?" Elizabeth demanded as she rose to stand on her feet. She found that with battling with another entity it was always best to be on your feet.

"I am Neria of Atlantis." The Ancient lady replied in a soft yet firm voice, it sounded like a old and wise voice of someone much older than she appeared. "I am inhabiting your body for the time being."

"Yes I've noticed." Elizabeth spoke dryly and less than amused, though she knew this is what she got for touching things she really shouldn't. "What do you want?" She gave the room another once over and found that conversing with this apparent Ancient did nothing to help her regain control of her body, which meant she was going to have to fight pretty darn hard.

"The same as you." Neria spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and when Elizabeth just looked at her with doubt she continued. "To destroy the Wraith."

Elizabeth was speechless at that declaration, a million thoughts running around her head but one ran louder than all the others. "Are my friends alright? Or did they somehow end up with uninvited guests in their heads too?" Ancient or not; she was getting sick and tired of people thinking she was available for a joy ride whenever they damn well pleased.

Neria smiled slightly as if she knew that was what she was going to ask and merely brought one arm and waved it at one of the walls. It transformed into a viewing screen, as if looking through a window. Through it they could easily see Rodney's science lab and they were looking down at research notes on one of the tablets. It was simple for Elizabeth to identify that this was the same thing as looking through her own eyes and viewing the world as she normally would. For the same thing had happened when Phoebus had stuck around, though this time seemed marginally more pleasant.

"They are fine, in truth they are helping me with my work." Neria commented as Radek came in carrying more tablets in his hands that most likely contained more research notes.

Tearing her gaze away from the real world and back onto Neria, Elizabeth felt a white hot fury consume her. "I find that hard to believe, they're most likely placating you until they discover how to get you out of me." Her words her hard and her voice raw, she had such devotion in her friends, such faith that they wouldn't simply abandon her to the mercy of an Ancient mind with promises of a better galaxy.

If Neria was surprised or offended by her outburst she didn't show it. Her face remained stoic as she calmly asked. "How long do you think it's been since you were struck by the transference beam?"

That caught Elizabeth off-guard and she found herself staring back at the view screen, watching Radek and Rodney discuss passionately about the physics and energy requirement for the outpost they found. It was obvious that the two of them did not seemed concerned with her current condition nor did they seem afraid of Neria as she looked up from the tablet and gave them an answer to their circling calculations.

"It's been almost two weeks." She answered for her and when Elizabeth showed no signs of acknowledging her; Neria continued to explain the events that had transpired. "When I awoke in your infirmary I informed your friends that I had transferred myself into your body. I had been hiding to avoid detection but unfortunately my facility lost power and I was trapped there all this time." She paused to when Elizabeth finally gazed back into her eyes obviously transfixed by her story.

"I told them I was working on a weapon that could wipe out the Wraith all at once and bring peace to the Pegasus Galaxy. However I did mention that I would not leave your body until my work was complete. Seeing that you weren't around and that I couldn't be removed from you by force they reluctantly agreed."

"You're holding me hostage?" Elizabeth was shocked that an Ancient would be capable of such a thing. The ones they had encountered had done many things, most of them questionable but hostage taking seemed very out of character for them. "There must be more to it if you're so concerned that they wouldn't help you otherwise."

Neria's eyes widened in a flash before regaining her emotionless composure. "You are more intuitive than I had first perceived. It would seem your people aren't not as primitive as I thought."

Before Elizabeth could accuse her of not giving her a straight answer she saw movement on the view screen out of the corner of her eyes. John had walked into the lab looking less than happy about something and came to a stop beside Rodney though his eyes had never left Neria.

Without realising it, she let a sigh of relief at seeing his face and her faith was renewed when he was watching with caution evident in his eyes. Something inside her tightened and then fluttered away at the thought that he would never give up on her, that no matter what he wouldn't rest until she was back in control of her own body.

Elizabeth found that John always somehow managed to give a strength and conviction to go on fighting when the odds always seemed bleak. She was going to try and speak to him when the view screen suddenly pivoted away from him and back to the research notes.

Her eyes snapped to the Neria standing in front of her and she froze all thoughts in their place. The Ancient woman appeared to be in turmoil and she was suddenly shaking and something overwhelmed her emotionally.

In a instant Neria disappeared and the view screen went black for a moment and altogether disappeared. Then the room surrounding Elizabeth transformed into that of one of the many labs in Atlantis. Two figures materialised where the wall had been; one a man and the other was another Neria who appeared to be crying with her hands covering her face.

Elizabeth felt her breath catch in her throat as the man standing with Neria looked exactly like John, except that his hair was more of a brown than a black colour. He seemed to be deeply distressed as well but was trying his best to console Neria.

"_Neria, there was nothing we could have done. Daeylan- " He spoke in a gentle voice as we went to embrace her but she pushed his arms away from her and began to shout at him._

"_Daeylan never should have been there! He should have been evacuated to Atlantis! We shouldn't have given into to his childish whims! And now the Wraith have taken him from us!" Her voice echoed throughout the lab and eventually grew hollow. _

"_Neria my love...we couldn't have known that they were coming. The Wraith are too many and we are losing this war. Daeylan is at peace and he would hate to see you like this." The man that resembled John placed his hands lovingly on Neria's shoulders and before closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her and embraced her as if his life depended on it. _

"_Septhaim, I can stop all this. I can wipe those monsters out of existence and set everything right." Neria had stopped crying but her voice had hardened and turned an icy cold. _

_Septhaim's eyes widened and his removed himself from her as if Neria was a Wraith herself. "You can't finish the weapon! The council forbid! It's far too dangerous!"_

"_He was just a little boy Septhaim!" Neria holds out her hands in front of her and stares at them in horror and uncontrollable despair. "He was our precious little boy, only a few years old and they sucked his tiny body dry!"_

"_I held what was left of him, nothing more than bones and dust. His final moments in his short life of sheer fear and the knowledge that he was going to die in the most painful way imaginable."Her voice cracked and tears fell freely from her face once again. "They drained everything little drop of life; leaving him to rot and he crumbled to ash in my arms!" _

The two of them faded and Elizabeth found herself back in the grey room and the view screen had returned. On it was John's face, concern clearly etched in his features and she now knew why Neria found it so hard to look at him. He was a reminder of what she lost, of what the Wraith had violently and cruelly snatched away from her.

"Now you know why I will never stop whatever the cost." Neria's voice echoed around her and Elizabeth could agree that she did indeed have a very valuable point.

A/N: Hey so let me know what you think. I just wanted to explore Neria's motivation and explain her slightly sanity issues. Now I shall actually move on with the story!


	4. Similiarities

Chapter 4: Similarities

John couldn't help but keep his eyes on Neria/Elizabeth at all times. He was convinced that his dearest friend was trapped inside her body. What he couldn't figure out was if she was actually consciously aware of what was going on. It was weird to look at Elizabeth and not see any of her mannerisms, her character, and her very essence of personality shine through. It was incredibly hard seeing a stranger with the face of his friend.

What made him even more curious or pensive about her was the fact that she never seemed to want to look at him. Over the past two weeks, he had noted and so had the others that Neria always became increasingly uncomfortable around him whenever he was near. He didn't believe that he had done anything out right to make her wary of him, other than showing his clear disapproval that she was in Elizabeth's body.

He just couldn't fathom out the Ancient being at all, she appeared to have no issue with Ronan or the constant security detail that followed her everywhere. No one had reported having any incidents with her, so why did she have a problem with simply looking at him?

He kept his eyes on her as she focused all of her attention on the research notes in front of her. Her face seemed to slacken a little bit from its constant frown and if he didn't know any better he'd say she was day dreaming. He wondered what she was thinking about and if it had anything to do with the safety of the city.

"It's getting late guys; why not give it a rest today hmm?" He pointed out as he took a quick glance at his watch before sending both Rodney and Radek a look that read 'I'm not asking'.

"Yes I suppose we have been at it all day." Radek seemed to the hint and started tidying the pads up into piles, categorising them on their usefulness.

"Oh I don't mind staying up. Not like I've got anything better to do." Rodney quipped and resumed his study of equations on his laptop.

"Yes I believe I will stay and get the work done faster." Neria added not looking up from her notes which she had failed to scroll through in the last five to ten minutes.

"Hey I'm all for working hard, but I'm not letting you wear Elizabeth's body out." John's voice was stern and his friendliness all but gone. He placed one hand on the desk next to her and the other on his hip and took up a no nonsense stature.

"Right, yes. Sleep. Good idea." Rodney rambled out and clasped shut his laptop, not bothering to shut it down and quickly retreated from the room, following Radek into the corridor.

The science lab doors hissed closed and it left Neria and John alone, though she still refused to meet his gaze. He frowned before sighing heavily and took a step back and dropped his arms by his sides in a less aggressive stance.

"Look, Neria. It's not that I don't _appreciate_ the work you're trying to do here -" He started to speak but she cut him off before he could try and establish any peace between them.

"Yet you send me to bed like a child." Then she did look up at him finally, her eyes a fiery green. She was giving him a look that Elizabeth always did whenever they fought about how to respond to situations. He swore right there and then that Elizabeth was back there with him but the words weren't right. "I don't need to be coddled by someone thousands of years my junior."

She hopped off the stool she had been sitting on with a huff and was clutching the pad rather tightly to her chest. Strange that the woman was so very much like Elizabeth and yet so very different. He briefly wondered if they were ever related. That would be even freakier, to think that she could be possessed by a very distant relative.

Maybe it was because she resembled Elizabeth so much in personality, and it was his friend's body that he decided to not get in an argument with her. "I'm just worried about you straining yourself unnecessarily. You need to take it easy for yourself and Elizabeth." His voice was tender and overly familiar, like he would if it was just him and Elizabeth out on their balcony after a particularly hard day.

She looked taken aback by his words and his tone. Clearly she hadn't been expecting it, well neither had he, so John wasn't that surprised by her reaction. She frowned again and at this rate she was going to give Elizabeth permanent wrinkles.

"I - " She started to say something then looked away and thought better of it and said instead "Thank you. I will retire for tonight as instructed." She shyly smiled at him then, not sure if she really should but she couldn't help herself. John's kindness, though she knew it wasn't truly aimed at her, filled her lonely heart with the memory of her husband.

"I'll walk you there." He smiled back and gestured for her to take the lead as he pointed towards the door. His smile faltered when she didn't move and just looked at him accusingly.

"Don't trust me Colonel?" She asked him suddenly and the question caught him off guard, it wasn't the question itself but just hearing it Elizabeth's voice was just plain _wrong._ When he didn't answer her and just looked at her dumbfounded she continued. "I don't blame you and for what it's worth I'd do the same in your shoes."

With that she walked past him and entered the corridor, her two security guards on either side of her. She was still looking at him, as if evaluating him and then asked in a firm yet friendly manner "Are you escorting me or not?"

He blinked a couple of times baffled at her sudden change of heart around him and smiled slightly as he joined her and nodded at her guards. "Of course."

They walked to Elizabeth's quarters in companionable silence. The journey didn't take them that long with using the transporters. When they arrived at the door, without saying anything Neria simply gazed into his hazel eyes for a moment before spinning around and entering the room for the night. John was confused and felt a little out of place, standing in the corridor outside of Elizabeth's room without so much as a goodnight.

"Goodnight." He sarcastically spoke to the empty space where Neria had stood seconds ago and then realised the security guards were taking up their positions and he felt his cheeks begin to flush from embarrassment.

He left for his own room just a little further down the corridor and wondered what the hell had gotten into him. He really needed to find a way to get Elizabeth back sooner to return everything back to normal.

A/N: Sorry for not updating this one sooner, I've been concentrating on my other story Stranded. Let me know what you think as always. Thanks.


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